This seems true in the case of a new state historical marker outside the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff.

The inscription on the marker says, in part: “On November 22, 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald was apprehended inside the auditorium for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, propelling the Texas Theatre into the international spotlight.”

Well, not quite. Oswald was arrested inside the theater. But not for killing JFK.

His arrest came minutes after J.D. Tippit, a Dallas police officer, was gunned down a few blocks away, near the intersection of 10th Street and Patton. Oswald’s odd behavior as he moved along Jefferson Boulevard attracted the attention of a shoe store manager, Johnny Brewer, who followed Oswald to the theater. The theater’s box office attendant, Julia Postal, became suspicious as well when Oswald ducked into the movie house without a ticket. The police were called, and the rest is history.

It wasn’t until hours later that Oswald was accused of killing Kennedy. Oswald worked at the Texas School Book Depository, which overlooks Dealey Plaza, where the president was shot as his motorcade passed through.

Brewer, the shoe store manager, told the Warren Commission that while Oswald was being subdued by police inside the theater — while “fists were flying” — he heard one officer say: “Kill the president, will you.”

But as the commission’s official report on the assassination put it: “It is unlikely that any of the police officers referred to Oswald as a suspect in the assassination. … The arresting officers were pursuing Oswald for the murder of Tippit.”

The marker, from the Texas Historical Commission, was installed outside the Texas Theatre in mid-November, in advance of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the assassination.

The wording was sent to the Oak Cliff Foundation, which owns the Texas Theatre, and to the Dallas County Historical Commission for proofreading and approval. Hearing that all was good, the state rushed the project to the foundry for delivery before Nov. 22.

So now what? Leave it? Or embrace precision in the telling of history?

Yes to the latter, to accuracy, said Farris Rookstool, a Kennedy assassination authority who provided a 109-page narrative used to prepare the text for a Tippit marker unveiled last year at 10th and Patton.

“It’s a huge human error that needs correcting,” Rookstool said.

Bob Brinkman, marker program coordinator for the Texas Historical Commission, said the text came straight from the theater’s nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. And since the Oak Cliff Foundation signed off on the wording, it would be responsible for the replacement cost, Brinkman said. That’s $1,800 as the marker stands now, on a pole, or $1,600 without.

“I need to talk to the foundation board,” said Brian McKay, a board member, when told about the wording.